Pokémon Wiki:Manual of Style
This style guide is currently under construction. This Manual of Style outlines a standard of clean, consistent formatting for articles in the Pokémon Wiki. The formatting described here is a guideline and can be overridden where circumstances warrant it. These guidelines will never be unerringly perfect for every situation. However, please try your best to keep to the advice outlined in this article so others may use your edits as an example when creating and editing their own articles. These guidelines are a summary of the most important guidelines for the Pokémon Wiki, but a more expansive set of guidelines can be found on Wikipedia at Wikipedia Manual of Style. Grammar and punctuation When writing articles it is important to follow these rules of the english language: #Don't use netspeak or any similar slang. We are compiling a professional resource for Pokémon fans. #Keep your writing around a 6th Grade reading level. You don't need to fill it with big words just to make it sound smarter, especially if you're not certain how the word should be used. #Vary your words. When writing, try to vary the words you use and the length of your sentences. It makes things sound more interesting. #Capitalize words when appropriate. (see below) #Use correct punctuation. This includes commas, periods, quotation marks, and apostrophes. (see below) #Know the difference between homophones: there, their, and they're; here and hear; it's and its; who's and whose. Capitalization *''See also: Naming conventions'' In naming an article, the first letter of it will always be capitalized due to technical restrictions. If the name of the article is a name, such as Nintendo Co., Ltd., Random Blueberry Productions, John Smith, all starting letters should be capitalized that are part of the name. If the article has an extension but still uses a name, format it like John Smith's apples, not capitalizing "apples". So, unless there is a reason for capitalization, don't do it. Punctuation In addition to basic punctuation, it is important to know how to punctuate titles. Titles are always either in italics or inside quotation marks. Italics Italics are used for large works like games, movies, comics and books. :Examples: :*''Let's Find Pokémon!'' :*''Pokémon The First Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back'' To use italics on Wikia place two single quote marks before and after the title: :Pokémon These are single quotes ('), not double quotes ("). Alternately, highlight the title you want to put in italics with your mouse and click the "I''" button in the toolbar above the edit box (in between the B for bolding and AB for the Internal link). Links To link to another article inside Pokémon Wiki, you must put [[]] around it. To link to an article in Wikipedia, use wikipedia: and put the article title inside. If an article does not exist by that name, the link will show up as dark red, like this. External links will show up as blue. You only need to link to another page once in any given article. Most of the time this is the first time that article's title comes up, but there are some exceptions to this. :'Examples:' :*Pikachu :*the wikipedia entry for the franchise. Article name Bolding The first time the name of the article is used in an article, and only the first time, it should be printed in '''bold' text (done by surrounding the name with ' on each side). Also, if there is two names that mean the same thing for the article, both should be bolded for the first time. So, for example, if the articles name was "Foobar Rhinoceros" then, in the article, the first paragraph would go like this: :In the world of geology, the '''Foobar Rhinoceros' is a fictional creature capable of transporting itself magically. The Foobar Rhinoceros, or, as it is called for short, "Foonoceros", enjoys eating meals of grapes, berries, and other random things. Which, when coded in an article, the above would look like this :In the world of geology, the Foobar Rhinoceros is a fictional creature capable of transporting itself magically. The Foobar Rhinoceros, or, as it is called for short, "Foonoceros", enjoys eating meals of grapes, berries, and other random things.